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TV18, Lokmat tie-up : Marathi news channel in sight
In a first of its sorts, an electronic news giant and a Marathi print news player have come together to launch a Marathi news channel
Soon after announcing a 50:50 joint venture with Viacom, TV18 has pulled out another JV from its ever-expanding hat. The Raghav Behl-promoted TV company now plans to foray into the regional space and the group will launch a 24 hour Marathi language news and current affairs channel. The channel is being launched through a 50:50 joint-venture with the Lokmat Group, owners of Lokmat which runs publications such as Lokmat Times and Lokmat Samachar.
To be called IBN Lokmat, the news channel will go on-air by the end of this year. With the launch of this news channel, TV18 will consolidate its share in the news space and capture further ground in the regional news space as well.
Manchanda adds, "The target audience is the 'highly aware and conscious Marathi speaking' population from Western India with a delivery style to suit their pace of lives. The spotlight will always be on the spirit of 'whatever it takes'. We are proud to be associated with a partner like Lokmat, who stand out by not only capturing the people's mood but also being at the forefront of shaping their opinion."
TV18 under its kitty has CNBC-TV18 and CNBC Awaaz besides Global Broadcast Network which includes CNN-IBN and IBN7. It also has Web18 with brands on the Internet such as moneycontrol.com, commoditiescontrol.com, ibnlive.com, poweryourtrade.com, easymf.com, indiaearnings.com , tech2.com, cricketnext.com, and compareindia.com.
On the other hand, Lokmat Group publishes 17 editions in three languages; Lokmat (Marathi), Lokmat Samachar (Hindi) and Lokmat Times (English).